18 months suspended prison sentence for Adrian Sutil
The verdict in the case of his altercation with Eric Lux has been announced, and it carries serious consequences for Adrian Sutil: 18 months in prison suspended and a €200,000 fine. This could put an end to his career in F1, or even in motorsports.
Indeed, despite his very successful 2011 season (he finished ninth, making him the first behind the four big teams, Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes), he now finds himself without a seat since he was replaced by Nico Hülkenberg at Force India.
The Munich court today found him guilty of assaulting Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub, where Eric Lux had to receive 24 stitches following an injury caused by a broken champagne glass. The co-owner of Lotus GP did not accept the apologies made over the phone by the German driver and decided to take the matter to the German court.
It will therefore be very difficult for Adrian Sutil to find a place in F1 since the only seat still available is with the very modest HRT, which is of a completely different caliber compared to the Silverstone team. With his conviction, it will be an arduous task to entice sponsors capable of reopening the doors of F1 for him next year.
Adrian Sutil could therefore meet the same fate as Bertrand Gachot: very promising, the French driver faded into oblivion following his conviction for using a tear gas canister on a London taxi driver in 1991. This allowed a certain Michael Schumacher to make his debut with Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix…
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
